Athlete’s spend hours at training and in the gym often to compete for only a few minutes or a couple of hours. This makes the time and energy they put into training far harder physically than the time they spend competing at their sport.

Then I was speaking to a client this week who said due to the work she has done off horse she can finally feel and use her seat bones independently her riding has become easier. Although her body is still doing lot’s of things and indeed working hard, it requires less physical effort as there is less flapping and shoving etc to get her horse to listen. She’s now able to communicate with the subtle almost invisible aids.

Off horse work focusing on strength, body control and proprioception will enable your body to react with stability and sensitivity when you ride.

This isn’t strength for strength’s sake. It’s the strength to be in control of your own bodyweight without being tense. The strength to move one body part without affecting another and the strength to be sensitive to what can be felt through your seat, legs and hands.

If that’s the level of rider you want to become then it’s going to take work!

Think about this level of softness, control and sensitivity during off horse exercise-whatever form that takes.

As you Squat do you move freely down and up or do parts of it feel sticky? Can you activate your glutes and thighs but not feel overly braced? Can you react to other movements in your body or to a weight as it changes the balance in your body? Is everything moving as it should and where you think it is?

Do this with whatever exercise you’re doing.

Pilates Bridge, Salsa dancing, Boxing whatever it is. The body moves, is activated and in control but soft and reactive. If you can achieve this off horse it’s going to be a whole lot easier on horse.

I refer to my opening point-train hard off horse to make riding your horse effortless-or at least have it appear that way!

More so than ever before riders are being told they need to pay more attention to their nutrition, fitness and overall lifestyle. Of course trying to manage all that on top of work, family and a horse is A LOT!

In my job I work with lots of super busy women, often mums with full time jobs and ambitions to rise up the Eventing levels with their horse…….clearly to occupy their spare time!

These women are high achievers across the board and I actually learn a huge amount myself by training them.

So much so, I’m going to pass on some of that wisdom to you so hopefully you can become even more of a rockstar than you already are.

The most important steps are Goal Setting, Planning and Organisation.

Goal Setting. My clients that are achieving great things are very clear about where they are going. At the beginning of the year I sent everyone a Goal Setting sheet and those that filled it in with specific training clinics and events throughout the season clearly defined are very much on track to achieve those goals.

Take some time to have a clear think about what you want to achieve. Write it down and then break down the steps needed to get there.

Plan your Time: Open your diary and plan where everything fits. And I mean everything! What have you got to fit in for the kids, work, etc, when are you doing the food shop and other life admin stuff. Then slot in your riding time, what will your sessions consist of etc.

Plan Your Sessions: Don’t waste sessions. I promise, that you and your horse will benefit more from fewer better quality sessions than more unfocused sessions. So plan exactly what you will be working on in each session whether it’s an off or on horse session.

Struggling to keep your nutrition on track? Again this comes down to planning. Planning doesn’t have to mean making everything from scratch, just planning what you will be eating, shopping and preparing accordingly. If your lifestyle doesn’t involve cooking then having easy to assemble meals, pre made porridge pots, protein shakes and fruit are a great way to make good nutrition a little easier. But you need to plan to have those foods available in order to actually eat them.

Stay Organised: Each evening, check your diary for the following day. What clothes do you need (I actually out my clothes out for the next day the night before as I can’t make decision on the appropriate leggings and hoodie combo ay 4.45am!) What food do you need to take with you? Is it pre prepared if required?

Is your exercise equipment easy to get to? Is all your tack where it’s supposed to be?

Do you know what your sessions are-refer back to the plan I told you to make earlier…….

So much of it comes down to don’t waste time!

I know it can feel like a lot and that everything is a military operation but I promise if you really do want to achieve those things you set out in your initial goal setting the planning and organising will all be worth it.

If you’d like some more help with goal setting, planning and then achieving those goals I’m taking on Online only clients to do exactly that! Less than the cost of 1 2 1 face to face training but with all the support, check in and knowledge to get you where you want to go!

I was whipping cream on Friday evening attempting to make Eaton Mess; however, the cream didn’t appear to be getting thick enough, so I thought I’d failed.  Chris came home and tried whipping the cream and it started to thicken and he said I just hadn’t been whipping it long enough-I’d given up too soon.

Cue my lesson the following Thursday in which I’m doing groundwork with Gwyd, and my trainer Becky tells me to wait for him to relax whilst I’m stood at the side of him rather than stood at the front of him like he prefers.  Stay there as long as it takes to achieve this. Which from previous experience could be a while. I needed to be patient.

This led me on to thinking about when people set about achieving health, fitness, or riding goals.

One week of healthy eating, a couple of workouts and a few attempts at that thing your instructor told you to do to improve your contact and yet no amazing transformation so it mustn’t be working right?

Or maybe it takes a little longer than a week or so or a short attempt to get results?

The whipping cream just required me to keep doing what I was doing for a bit longer.

The relaxation for Gwyd during groundwork just required me to stay calm and wait a bit longer.

Both of these things required consistency and patience.

If you are trying to achieve a health, fitness or riding goal don’t expect results within the first week. Just focus on being consistent with your efforts week by week so it becomes a habit and see where you are in 4 weeks, 6 weeks……. I bet if you’ve been consistent you’ve started to see the results.

If you want some help and accountability, send me a message and I’ll let you know how I can help.